Just a quick note to let you know that the Table Top Talk website will be undergoing some changes; For now when you hit the main page, you will land on temporary “under construction” page – a link is provided to take you to the relocated forum pages.
We are a bit on the busy side for the next couple of weeks, but be sure to check back for further updates and information concerning the changes to Table Top Talk.
Before heading out for the week, I tried to get in at least a few minutes on several of the projects I have going. One of these projects is the pre-paints. I was able to cast a few of the Russian trucks on Sunday morning while finishing up a few other little projects.
To get back to the pre-paints subject; While spinning the molds, I took a few minutes to clean up a handful of truck castings. The clean up was very minor (spin the sprue, pluck a couple of spider vents, file the nubs left behind, and done). This followed by a quick washing to remove any remaining powder residue and I was set to prime. This time around, I tried the black primer from the local Farm and Fleet store (under $2.50 per can); I figured it was worth a try, and well so far t looks like this will work just fine for this type of project. The primer was baked dry (baked might be too strong, but heat cured for sure). Later on Sunday night, I had a chance to apply the first base coat. This went on fast and easy. This was a key point in the process. Why? The undercarriage of the truck is a tricky spot. Here I need to determine how much work we will put into the undercarriage. Well, I tried to keep it simple…
The only way to keep things simple (thus fast) is to leave the undercarriage black (I’ll circle back and apply the black base coat over the black primer, but for now, we will leave in just primer). So, the priming and the base coat are now done. Next will be some back lining and a clean up of the overall color. The one remaining piece are the windshield and the two side windows. I’ve not yet come up with the colour I want to use here (if you happen to have a suggestion, let us know). Anyhow, in the end, I think these will go quickly, and that we can target a price around the $6 mark for the trucks.
When I get home, I’ll finish up the first batch of truck and and likely start on a second batch to try the streamlined process. So, pictures and an update next week.
Just a quick note to let you know that HistoriFigs will be attending Rock-Con (November 2 – 4) and that we will be setup in the Dealer area where we will be displaying and selling our goodies…
Rock-Con will mark our first showing of some brand new figures – 10mm Zombies, 40mm AWI and maybe even a new Resistant Roosters release as well as the first of our pre-painted 15mm WWII tanks.
So, if you happen to be attending Rock-Con, be sure to drop by and say hi, and who knows you might win some goodies too!
Rock-Con 2007
NOVEMBER 2-4, 2007
Wedgebury Indoor Sports Center
8800 East Riverside Blvd
Rockford (Loves Park), Illinois 61111
Be sure to visit the Rock-Con website for more information.
Just thought that I would let you know that I’ve finished an interim web page to support the Resistant Roosters line of figures…
The page can be found at:
http://www.historifigs.com/roosters
The page(s) do not match the remainder of the HistoriFigs website, but they are pretty much self contained, so that shouldn’t bee too much of an issue.
All current products have been listed (a few name changes are in place) and the SKU numbers have been updated to our new numbering scheme. All pricing remains as it has been, but we are reviewing the price structure and will be making a few adjustments (a bit of up and a bit of down, but nothing drastic)
There should be pictures for most packs/sets. The ones we have are from the old Resistant Roosters site and they will be replaced/updated as we define standards and take new photos.
Look for more news in the second week in October.
Next week (1 Oct through 5 Oct) I will be out of town (in Boston) for a software testing conference, so email responses will be rather slow. Alison will be here and production will continue, but at a slightly slower pace.
I’ve been fiddling with ways to produce some pre-painted tank models and I think I have a system (mostly) down that will allow us to produce these. I’m still working on the first test models, and they are coming out well. The base model I’m working with right now is the Bloodaxe T-34, so we are not talking about a highly detailed model, but something very functional on the table top. The models are assembled (soldered, not glued) and painted in our shop (made and painted in Wisconsin!). The paint jobs are simple and the models will be ready for the game table as soon as you take them out of the box (of course, you may to add additional details).
I’m still working on making some of the process a bit easy/quicker to complete. Once I have all the steps simplified as much as possible, I’ll be showing Alison how it all works. From there we can begin production. The first completed models should be on display (and for sale) at Rock-Con in November. When I get back from Boston, we should be able to post a few pictures of the current prototypes (you will notice that they have been done with a few different colours – I am still making final paint choices). At this point I should mention our target price; for the T-34s we are presently looking at a price somewhere around $8.00 – this isn’t a firm or final price, but we should be close to this mark when all is said and done.
Assuming this project continues to roll along as well as it has so far, we will continue with the Russian theme and add pre-painted trucks to the line up. After that, well we shall see how things go. I’ll likely take a look at the n-gauge models next – since these were created for Afrika Korps games, they will be done in a desert scheme. If nothing else, we will accomplish getting the n-gauge tanks into new molds, so even if the pre-paint project doesn’t pan out the raw castings will be cleaner than they ever have been.
As you can see, we are as ever working on way too many projects, but the good news is that we are having fun!